Chapter 6: Is This Your Relative?

Only after Song Jian picked up all four items did he realize that the dropped items weren't as good as he'd imagined;

"Zombie leather, zombie tusks, zombie meat, what the hell are these crap?" Song Jian, with a disgusted look on his face, glanced at the three items emitting a grayish glow in his hands, and almost threw them away on the spot.

Zombie Leather (Gray), Material, can be used to craft equipment, use requirement: possesses armor-making skill;

Zombie Tusk (Gray), Material, can be used to concoct potions, use requirement: possesses potions-making skill;

Zombie Meat (Gray), Material, can be used for cooking, use requirement: possesses cooking skill;

...

After thinking for a while and suppressing his revulsion, he put the three items into his inventory. Song Jian's attention then fell on the very last item emitting a white glow.

"Puppet Card (Zombie): Can summon a Level 1 zombie as a puppet. The puppet cannot be leveled up, it dies when its hit points drops to zero, and it cannot be summoned again after death!"

"Puppet? Zombie? One-time usage item? What's this crap?" Song Jian held the card between two fingers, his lips curled down in dissatisfaction;

The fighting ability of the zombie he'd just killed was simply too pathetic, Song Jian didn't even consider it worth his time;

Looking back, he had been a bit nervous earlier, firing all the bullets in his gun at the first sight of the monster, Even though he managed to kill it, he probably wasted more than three bullets in the process.

Such a weak zombie would theoretically only require three to five bullets to kill, but Song Jian had emptied all nine bullets in his gun. If he hadn't run out of bullets, he would probably have wasted even more.

Of course, this was understandable. The game was designed to be incredibly realistic, making it easy to forget that it was just a game after all.

With the card in his hand, Song Jian thought it was useless to keep it as it was; it would be better to summon it as a meat shield. He focused his eyes on the card, and soon, two options appeared on it - "Use" and "Destroy".

After staring at the "Use" option for a moment, the card in his hand started to heat up, becoming too hot to hold. Song Jian casually tossed the card aside. The next second, as it hit the ground, it disappeared, and a stinky zombie, similar to the one he had just killed, materialized next to him.

"Eww~"

The moment the puppet zombie appeared, Song Jian's face turned green. The stench was so bad it almost made him vomit his gallbladder out.

The zombie monster he fought earlier had at least three or four meters distance between them. It stank, but it was bearable. However, this summoned puppet zombie appeared right next to Song Jian, the smell was something only those who've experienced it would understand—it was horrendously repulsive.

"Get the hell away from me!" Song Jian attempted to kick the zombie away. He lifted his foot, hesitated, then put it back down.

He remembered the pus that squirted out when the bullets pierced the zombie's flesh. If his kick landed, it wouldn't be much different from stepping into a pile of poop.

Just when Song Jian was being hesitant, the puppet zombie surprisingly crawled a few rounds forward;

"Huh, it's actually obedient!" Song Jian's eyes lit up;

"Stand up, walk a few steps forward!" Song Jian ordered.

Indeed, the puppet zombie stood up and took a few steps forward. It seemed like Song Jian got himself a new toy, and he was having a blast.

"Lift your leg~"

"Put it down~"

"Left hand six, right hand six~"

"Draw a circle with your left leg, then draw another circle with your right. Jump, jump, jump~"

With a thud, the puppet zombie tumbled to the ground, with a damage number of -2 floating above its head.

Song Jian paused, unable to resist checking the attributes of this puppet zombie.

Song Jian's puppet zombie (Weakened during the day), Attack: 3-6 (halved), Defense: 1-2 (halved), Health: 54/112 (halved), Movement Speed: 3 (halved); Skills: Bite, inflicts 5 points of damage to the target and causes an additional 3 points of damage per second for 5 seconds. Also, it has a chance of inflicting the "Zombie Poison" effect on the target; Zombie Poison: Reduces health by 2 points per second, upon death, the victim turns into a zombie.

"What a piece of junk, way too weak." Song Jian skimmed through the puppet zombie's stats, huffed, and expressed. He thought, how could it be taking damage from falling but serve as a tank?

However, it occurred to him that the zombie was currently in a weakened state during the day. Perhaps it would recover at night, and if all attributes doubled, it would be slightly stronger than the giant spider in the room.

"Move ahead, scout the area!" Song Jian commanded.

The puppet zombie sluggishly marched forward with Song Jian following from a safe distance, holding his nose as they moved towards the other rooms on the floor.

This building was a skyscraper with thirty-one floors. The room Song Jian had appeared in was on the twenty-sixth floor. Going downstairs, he searched each floor thoroughly. However, not until he reached the ninth floor did he find a room with a door that could be opened.

During the search, Song Jian heard unusual sounds and low growls from several rooms, suggesting zombies were lurking inside.

Song Jian's pistol initially could only hold seven bullets, but with the expanded clip, it could hold fourteen. If he was careful, he could deal with two to three zombies at a time. Plus, a puppet zombie at the front could act as a shield. As long as Song Jian didn't do anything rash, he should be safe for now.

Coming out of the staircase and turning a corner, Song Jian's eyes lit up. This floor was home to four households. Three of their doors were fastened tightly, except one. It was ajar, and underneath it lay a female body.

"Keep moving. Head for that room!" Song Jian ordered.

The puppet zombie moved slowly towards the half-opened door. As soon as it neared, the motionless female body on the ground suddenly twitched and rose. Her face twisted into a menacing expression as she growled at the puppet zombie.

"Take her down!" Song Jian shouted, simultaneously raising his gun to aim at the female zombie.

"Roar~"

"Roar~"

Both zombies stood face to face, opening their mouths and growling at each other.

"Take her down, what's the matter? Is she your relative? Are you guys having a chat now?" Song Jian yelled.

Thump, thump, thump~

The zombies began to attack each other with hands and mouths. It wasn't long before a sickening smell saturated the hallway.

"Puke, puke~ this stench can't be topped!" Song Jian almost retched, desperately suppressing his nausea. He took aim at the female zombie and fired.

Bang~

A gunshot echoed, the female zombie's head jerked back, and a thick green liquid sprayed from her brains. A blood-red damage number, 48, floated above her.

Just as Song Jian was preparing to take another shot, the puppet zombie launched a bite at the female zombie's neck. A scream pierced the air and the female zombie collapsed, her body disintegrating into black ash.

"Was that... a critical hit just now?" Song Jian seemed a bit slow on the uptake, looking at the ash on the floor and muttering to himself.

...